Tuesday, October 4, 2016

There has hardly ever been any music that has touched me as deeply as Relient K's album Air For Free. While I have loved Relient K for years, this new album has jolted my soul in places I didn't even know were there. Here are some of the highlights of such a truthful collection of music.

1. Mountaintop"Mountaintop" considers the utter possibility and whimsy of life. It speaks of the utter joy that comes from being in love and how automatically beautiful life becomes out of it. Words cannot describe love, and this song's words perfectly describe how indescribable it is. It's a mountaintop, and that's all that can be put into words.

Some might say "euphoric." No, there's really no words for it. When a smile grows across your face like pieces of a broken vase, everything falls into place.

2. Man

This song reflects on how fast life is. Learning and growing and maturing can only happen if we take steps to let them happen, and if we don't, our lives will be by in a flash. It's a song of reflection, and yet, still a song of motivation.

Wave goodbye as I outgrow the shadow of Peter Pan. It's time to be a man.

3. Empty House
This song might very well be my favorite on this album. The name and the lyrics fit so well with the atmospheric music that it really feels as if we were sitting in this man's empty house and we could hear his empty, breaking heart. It's hollow and raw and honest, and it's so, so real.

An empty house... time to get myself back home. Nothing but an empty house... living without you.

4. Prodigal
As a Christian, "Prodigal" strikes a deep chord with me. There are moments when I've come to a deep realization that I've betrayed my Lord and Savior; there are moments when I feel like Judas. As a sinner, it reminds me that I am nothing without Jesus, and even when I try to be more like Him, I fail. It's humbling and an honest representation of my faith.

Sweet Jesus, I was coming to pray, but all the hip kids sent You running away. You got egg on your face, but the faithful keep washing Your feet.

5. Air For Free

In "Air For Free's" very ethereal essence comes the heart of the song. There's a restless laziness portrayed in this song--a feeling that I think we've all understood at some point in our lives. It's a painfully real reminder of how fallible we as human beings are.

We can't do anything when there's nothing to do. Can't find the energy to put on my shoes. I will resign to stay on the couch. A novel idea, nothing to worry about.

While this is barely an overview of the journey that this album took me on, these are some of my very favorites. There's grandeur, there's depths, and it's all told in such an intricately simple way that I feel so alive while listening. I love the wonderful wit presented here, but I also love the depths of the soul that are presented as well.

7 comments:

OK YOU ARE MY NEW BEST FRIEND. Air for Free is my FAVORITE. What are your thoughts on "Local Construction" and "Marigold"? Also, I love your thoughts on "Prodigal". That song haunted me for days after I listened to it.